The New Girl
by cruiseaholic
Summary: What if Claire hadn't moved to Westchester? What if, instead, it was Massie who moved to Orlando? Watch as Massie Block takes O-Town by storm.
1. Boarding School Chic

**Disclaimer: **Ya. I own the Clique. And that's why I'm on FanFiction and not working on P.S. I LOATHE YOU. Srsly, guys.

* * *

"Rate me, Bean," twelve-year-old Massie Block said as she turned to face her full-length mirror. She was looking very boarding-school chic in a white Oxford and pink-and-white seer-sucker skirt. Her brunette locks fell in glossy curls and were held in place with a pink satin headband, a la Blair Waldorf. All in all, it was the perfect back-to-school ensemble.

The little black pug wagged her tail and barked nine times.

"Only a nine?" Massie frowned at her reflection. "I need to be a ten for the first day of school. What am I missing?"

Bean scurried across the room to Massie's bedside table, where her Tiffany's charm bracelet still lay from when she had taken it off before going to bed the night before.

"Ehmagawd! How could I have forgotten my charm bracelet?" She padded across the room in her vintage white Chanel ballet flats and fastened it to her wrist. "You're a lifesaver, Bean."

"Massie?" came her mother's voice over the intercom. "Isaac wants to leave in five minutes."

"Kay, Mom!" Massie chirped as she pressed the SPEAK button on the tiny white box. It matched the rest of the all white décor. (Massie had modeled the room after a hotel suite she had once stayed in.) When she emailed her friends back in Westchester pictures of her new bedroom, they had jokingly dubbed it the iPad. Massie sighed. Just thinking of her friends made her homesick. When her parents announced that they were moving to Orlando, Florida—also known as O-Town, land of tacky tourists—Massie hadn't exactly handled the news well. No matter how much she pouted, pleaded, begged, screamed, and cried, however, William and Kendra hadn't budged. They were moving. End of discussion.

Massie glanced in the mirror and applied another coat of Glossip Girl candy apple flavored lip gloss. One could never be too prepared. On her way out the door she grabbed her oversize silver Coach hobo off the back of her desk chair. Forget that she was headed to the horror that was public school. Forget that she was now living in Orlando, Florida. And forget the fact that the only friends she had were miles and miles away. Massie Block would make every girl want to be her, just like she always had.


	2. Clueless

I read Alicia last night... and I FREAKING GUESSED HOW IT WOULD END. I have a uncanny knack for predicting surprise endings. It's relatively creepy. Anyway it was pretty good; you guys should all read it. Nina was absolutely hilarious.

This chapter is for Dernier Cri, 'cause it takes one to know one. :)

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"Ehmagawd!" Massie screeched as they pulled into the school parking lot. She was looking out the side window from the passenger seat of the Range Rover, and she didn't at all like what she was seeing. Orlando Middle School was nothing like OCD. The school itself was an ugly two story brick building that, in her opinion, resembled a jail. Instead of the Beemers and Bentleys Massie was accustomed to, the parking lot was filled with cheap Fords and pick-up trucks. As she watched kids get out of their parents' cars, Massie crinkled her nose at their poor style choices. Gap jeans? Sneakers? Baggy t-shirts? Who in their right mind _chose_ to wear that sort of stuff?

With a wave good-bye to Isaac, Massie stepped out of the car and into the Florida sunlight. "Dorothy, you're not in Westchester anymore," Massie muttered under her breath as she slid on her silver Gucci aviators. But even after she clicked the heels of her ballet flats together three times, she was still stuck standing in the middle of the OMS parking lot surrounded by LBRs and wannabes. Could her life _get_ any worse?

-xo-

Claire Lyons sat at Table #17 with her best friends Sarah, Sari, and Mandy. As her friends gossiped and traded stories about their summer vacations, she grinned. She sure had missed her friends and all their quirks over the summer.

"And just last week I went out to dinner with my family and I saw Becky Manning and Bobby Dennett eating together," Mandy was saying.

"Isn't she dating Andy Jeffries?" Sari asked.

"She is," Mandy confirmed. "But by the time the waiter brought us our food they were in full on lip lock!"

"No way!" Sarah exclaimed. "Claire, this is your chance!"

"Huh?" the blonde looked up from her nails, which she had been examining. They were short and ragged from being chewed on, and Claire had been trying to decide whether nail polish would improve them at all.

"Oh come on, Claire, we all know you were crushing on Andy Jeffries last year," Sarah replied matter-of-factly.

"But that was _last year_," Claire corrected her. "I'm over him _now_."

"So you wouldn't mind if, say, I went after him?" Mandy said slyly.

"He's all yours," Claire shrugged.

"Don't look now," Sari piped up, "But I think Andy's got his eye on that new girl."

Claire, Sarah, and Mandy all swiveled in their chairs to see who Sari was referring to. A slender brunette was sauntering into the packed cafeteria, wearing a crisp white button down and skirt amid a sea of jeans and t-shirts. Her glossy curls bounced as she walked, and aviator sun glasses hid her eyes from view. Heads turned as she walked past all the crowded tables, choosing to sit instead at a table in the center of the room that was completely empty. She frowned and wrinkled her dainty nose, fishing a napkin out of her oversize silver hobo and wiping down the seat before perching on it. The girl reached into the bag once more, pulling out a copy of Seventeen magazine. She sat by herself at the table, perusing the contents of the magazine as if it were much more interesting than talking to any of the students gathered in the cafeteria.

"What a snob," Sarah spat before turning back towards her friends.

"Totally," Mandy said, and Sari nodded her agreement.

The three of them all looked at Claire pointedly. "Totally," she echoed. But in actuality, Claire was curious about the new girl. She had an air of mystery about her and she oozed confidence. It didn't hurt that she was completely gorgeous and had incredibly cool clothes. It was no wonder half the boys in the cafeteria were staring at her.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Mrs. Weezer, the principal of OMS, stood behind the microphone on the stage. Like most schools with limited funding, they didn't have a separate auditorium. Instead, their cafeteria had a small stage on one end that enabled it to that function as both.

All the students quieted down and turned to face their principal. Claire noted that the new girl didn't even look up from her magazine.

"New students, welcome. Returning students, welcome back. Before we start our first day of school, I'd like to remind you all about our school rules." Mrs. Weezer began rambling on and on about the standard rules and procedures of Orlando Middle School. Claire tuned the principal out and found herself again examining the new girl. Instead of reading her magazine, she now had her Palm Pilot out and was tapping away at the screen. Claire wondered if she was taking notes from the principal's lecture or jotting down beauty tips from her magazine. _Probably the latter_, Claire decided. This new girl didn't look like the kind of person who cared about following the rules.

Thirty agonizingly boring minutes later, Mrs. Weezer finally finished talking and dismissed everyone to their homerooms.

As Sarah, Sari, and Mandy, got up and left the cafeteria, Claire hung back. "I'll catch up with you guys later!" she called after them. She waited until the new girl got up from her table and followed the throng of kids out of the cafeteria. Claire fell into step beside her.

"Hi! I'm Claire," she introduced herself. The girl glanced at her, giving her a once-over. Claire immediately felt self conscious of her chosen attire of Keds, Old Navy jean shorts, and Miami Beach t-shirt. She had gotten the air-brushed shirt over summer break when she went to the beach with her family. Now she wondered why she had wanted one so badly.

"Massie Block," the girl said finally. No hi. No hello. No hey-let's-be-friends!

"Um, I noticed you were new here and I was wondering if you needed help finding your homeroom," Claire offered.

"No thanks," Massie replied coolly. "I can find the way myself."

And with that, she breezed by, leaving Claire standing alone in the now empty hallway. Massie was the new girl, not her. So why'd she feel so completely clueless?


	3. Surfer Wannabe

Massie Block sat at a table by herself as the woman she assumed to be the principal babbled on and on about the school rules. As if anyone actually cared. Putting down the Seventeen magazine she had been rifling through, Massie fished her Palm Pilot out of her silver Coach bag and wrote a quick in/out list to sum up her feelings about her new school.

CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION  
**IN:** Casual Casual  
**OUT: **Casual Cute

**IN: **Keds and Birkenstocks  
**OUT: **Heels and Ballet Flats

**IN: **Wall-Mart, The Gap, and Old Navy  
**OUT: **Bloomingdales, Fred Segal, and Tiffany's

**IN: **Florida LBRS  
**OUT: **Me :(

Massie sighed as she re-read her list. This school was truly depressing. If anything was going to give her premature frown-lines, attending OMS would. Here she was, sitting at a table all by herself. She thought doing so would play up the new-girl-at-school mystery vibe and allow her more time to decide which classmates she would befriend. But the more she examined her new classmates, the harder it was to decide. They were all just so… tacky. She could already feel the tackiness of it all starting to rub off on her.

No. This kind of thinking was NAWT fitting of an alpha. There was a determined glint in her eyes as she re-opened the file on her Palm Pilot and switched all the INs and OUTs. She even replaced the frowny face by her name with a smiley face. Massie Block _would_ come out on top. She always did.

-xo-

Massie sat in her homeroom class, a spiral notebook on her desk and her lucky purple pen in hand. After introducing herself and explaining the behavior she expected during homeroom, their teacher had excused herself to go get coffee from the teacher's lounge.

Massie tapped her pen against her bottom lip thoughtfully as she surveyed the class. Who in this room was A-List material? There was a platinum blonde who sat in the middle of a group of friends, laughing her head off. Everything about her, however, from her hair color to her laugh to the knock-off Prada bag resting on the back of her chair, screamed FAKE. And the last thing Massie needed was a fake friend. Then there was a pretty redhead who was dressed in an extremely low-cut v-neck top and incredibly short shorts. She could work, except that Massie's style was more classy than slutty. Finally, her amber eyes came to rest on a girl sitting a few seats behind her. Massie knew her name to be Sarah from when their teacher had called roll. She was cute, in a surfer-chic kind of way. Her outfit consisted of boys' swim trunks, a Ron Jon's Surf Shop tank top, and flip flops embroidered with shells. Her skin glowed bronze from what Massie knew to be a natural tan and dirty blonde hair fell in beachy waves down her back. _She could do_, Massie thought, her lips turning up in her signature half-smile as she jotted Sarah's name down in her notebook under the header "Girls I Can See Myself Being Friends With."

"Hey. Sarah right?" Massie said casually. The girl turned and looked to see who was talking to her.

"Yeah. You're the new girl," Sarah stated matter-of-factly.

"Massie Block," she confirmed, flashing what she hoped was a winning smile.

"A word of advice?" Sarah replied coolly. "The girls around here don't like rich, snobby, private school girls."

Massie gasped. Was this girl seriously talking to her like that? Did she even _know_ who she was dealing with?

"I'm sorry," Massie replied, her voice dripping with faux-sincerity. "I should have known that a poor, surfer wannabe, PUBLIC SCHOOL girl like _you_ would be jealous of _my_ money and ah-mazing sense of style."

Now it was Sarah's turn to gasp. "_Me?_ Jealous of _you?_ Please." All their classmates were now looking on at the conflict that was unfolding. Massie had no doubt that news of this little verbal battle would be all over the school by lunch, and decided to press her advantage.

"Don't act like I didn't see you admiring my outfit when I walked in the cafeteria this morning, _Stare_-ah." She paused to let the nickname set in, and a few of her classmates snickered. "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to find a decent knock-off at Target. That's where you got those ugly flip-flops, right?"

Sarah was fuming. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Just then, their teacher returned from the teacher's lounge with a steaming cup of coffee in hand. Massie flipped her glossy brunette hair over her shoulder and turned back around to face the front of the room. Sarah found herself wishing she had scissors so she could hack off Massie's precious coffee colored locks. However, she didn't, so she satisfied her anger instead by getting a scrap sheet of notebook paper and drawing a cartoon of Massie getting hit by a bus.


	4. Some Kind of Bully

Thanks for all the reviews, girlies. Keep 'em coming. :)

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"Oh, and before I forget, let me pass out your schedules," Ms. Fields said breathlessly as she made her way over to her desk to pick up the afore-mentioned stack of papers. Fly-away hairs had come loose from her frizzy red hair, and she'd already managed to spill a spot of coffee on her knee-length jean skirt. From what Claire could gather, her new homeroom teacher wasn't exactly the most organized and clean-cut person around.

Ms. Fields wandered around the room, reading off names so that the schedule-owners could identify themselves. "Claire Lee-ons?"

"It's Lyons," Claire corrected meekly as she took her schedule. She looked on in envy as several of the kids around her discreetly pulled out cell phones to compare schedules with their friends via text messaging. Curse her parents for not letting her have a phone until her sixteenth birthday. Ms. Fields went on to answer any questions anybody might have about their schedules, and five minutes later the bell rang and they were dismissed from class. Claire gathered up her stuff and made her way over to the first floor snack machines, the meeting place she and her friends had designated.

Mandy was already there, feeding a dollar in the machine and buying a bag of gummy worms. She ripped it open and grabbed a handful before offering some to Claire. Sharing a bag of gummies was a daily ritual between the group of friends, and Claire happily accepted. A moment later Sarah and Sari showed up. Sarah was seething and Sari was trying to comfort her. Mandy wordlessly held out the bag of gummies, but Sarah shook her head angrily.

"What's up?" Claire asked.

"That new girl completely dissed Sarah during homeroom," Sari whispered, her cerulean eyes wide.

"Well, did you say anything to instigate it?" Claire asked, surprised at this turn of events. Massie might have given her the cold shoulder this morning, but she still didn't seem the type to randomly lash out at someone.

"Whose side are you on?" Sarah snapped.

"Yours, of course," Claire said quickly.

"Fine." Sarah was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. "I might have told her that the girls around here didn't like rich, snobby, private school girls."

"Ohhh, no you didn't!" Mandy exclaimed.

"And then she accused me of being jealous. And made fun of my shoes," Sarah recounted.

"That's not so bad," Claire put in.

"It wouldn't have been, except that she PUBLICLY HUMILIATED me in front of the _entire_ class." Sarah tossed her dirty blonde waves over her shoulder in determination. "Massie Block is _so_ going down."

Before any of them could say anything else, the two minute warning bell rang, and they bade each other quick goodbyes before heading off to their various classes. As Claire entered her first period class and took a seat in one of the vacant desks, she couldn't help but think that Sarah might have deserved what she had been dealt. Not that Claire would ever say that to Sarah's face.

-xo-

At lunch, Massie sat at the same exact empty table she had sat at that morning. This time, however, an assortment of wannabes and clingers-on had joined her. It was clear that the story of Massie's public put-down of Sarah had gotten around the school, and now everyone wanted to kiss Massie's butt.

"It was so cool how you shut that girl down when she tried to insult you!" A blonde dressed in head-to-toe Aeropostale gushed as she put her tray down beside Massie's.

"Yeah, you completely turned it around so that _she_ was the one being dissed," another girl added.

Claire and her friends looked on from Table #17 as Massie soaked up the attention.

"Can you believe this? Everyone's made it out like Massie's the poor little new girl, and I'm some kind of bully!" Sarah fumed, stabbing her brownie repeatedly with her fork.

"Don't worry, Sarah, I'm sure everyone will forget all about it in a few days," Sari reassured her.

"Oh, they'll forget about it," Sarah agreed. "Because I'm going to be giving them something new to talk about."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Claire asked her warily.

Sarah's lips turned up in a devious smile. "You'll find out soon enough."


	5. Overly Nice

"Thanks for the ride!" she told Isaac sweetly as the limo pulled into the Blocks' wide, circular driveway. She gracefully slid out of the limo and climbed the short flight of stairs onto her front porch.

"I'm home!" Massie announced as she flung open the front door.

"Come in the kitchen, dear," her mother called. Massie slid out of her flats and padded barefoot down the hallway into the spacious kitchen area. The ultra modern room was done entirely in shades of chrome. Kendra was perched on a silver bar stool facing the marble island. She was sipping a cup of tea and checking her email on a pink Blackberry Pearl.

"Yes, mother?" Massie asked as she entered the room.

"How was your first day at school?" Kendra asked, putting down the Blackberry and turning to face her daughter.

"Oh, it's awful there," Massie said, sighing dramatically for effect. "The school isn't up to par with OCD's standards at all."

Kendra frowned, or as close to frowning as one can get when one's face has been recently Botoxed. "It really is too bad that the private schools around here have already closed admission for this school year," she mused thoughtfully. "Did you make any friends, at any rate?"

Massie thought about her confrontation with Sarah. Then she thought about all the but-kissers who sat with her at lunch. "Some," she allowed.

"Well, I suppose you should go started on your homework so that it will be finished when our guests come over tonight," her mother suggested, smoothing her crisp white linen slacks.

"It's the first day of school; we don't have any homework. And who are we having over?" Massie inquired.

"I'm sure I've mentioned this to you before. I invited the Lyonses to dinner. Remember your father's old friend, Jay Lyons?"

Massie shook her head.

"He attended college with your father. They have a daughter your age. Actually, I think you go to school with her," Kendra explained.

"Great," Massie said, forcing a smile. If her mother detected any sarcasm, she didn't show it. "Can I be excused to my room now?"

"Of course, dear," Kendra said lightly before re-immersing herself in checking her email. Massie flounced out of the room and climbed the spiral staircase that led to the upstairs portion of the estate. Upon entering her bedroom, Massie dropped her purse by the door and picked a remote up off her desk. She lazily pointed it at her iPod dock and pressed a button, making music blast out of the speakers.

_Do, Do you got a __first aid__ kit handy?  
Do, Do you know how to patch up a wound?_

Massie shimmied her way into her walk-in closet to appraise her selection. If it was true that this girl went to her school, Massie couldn't be seen in the same outfit twice.

_Tell me are you up to the challenge?  
Cause my heart is damaged, damaged_

After rummaging though the various designer pieces hanging in her closet, Massie decided on a royal purple tunic top with intricate gold trim and skinny ultra dark-wash True Religions, which she would pair with her gold Christian Louboutin sandals. She sat down at her vanity and contemplated what to do with her hair, eventually deciding on leaving it in curls and simply pinning the front half up. After touching up her make-up, Massie was finally ready.

"Massie, come downstairs. Our guests are here," Kendra announced over the intercom. With one last glance in her full length mirror, Massie sauntered out of the room. When she reached the bottom of the staircase and saw who her parents' dinner guests were, it was all she could do to keep her jaw dropping in shock. _This_ was her father's old friend? The man Massie assumed to be Jay Lyons was a chubby, balding man dressed in a scratchy polyester-blend button down and khaki cargoes- not a look Massie would ever recommend to anyone. The mother wore an ugly floral patterned sundress and the daughter and snot-nosed son each wore a jeans and t-shirt combination. Massie faintly recognized the girl from school.

"This is my oldest friend, Jay, and his wife Judi," William said. Massie gave them each a perfunctory handshake.

"Hi Massie," the girl said, stepping forward. "We met at school today, remember?"

"Right. Um, what's your name again?"

"Claire," she supplied.

"And I'm her younger brother, Todd," the boy announced, pushing past his sister and holding out a sticky hand.

Massie wrinkled her nose in disgust and gave it a quick shake before swiftly withdrawing her hand. She would have to wipe it off on her napkin as soon as they went into the dining room.

Massie looked on in utter boredom as her parents made small talk with the Lyonses. She noticed that Kendra had turned around all her diamond rings, something she always did when she didn't want the "less fortunate" to feel uncomfortable. Clearly, this family didn't have much money.

Finally, Inez, their live-in maid and cook, poked her head through the doorway. "Dinner is served." The Blocks and their guests headed into the dining room, sitting themselves down around the long oak table. Massie managed to make it through the entire dinner without having to talk to either Claire or Todd; a tough feat since her mother had sat her in between them. After everyone's plates had been cleared and the parents sat talking and drinking wine, Kendra suggested that Massie show Claire her room.

Massie wordlessly led the blonde up the stairs into her bedroom.

"Wow," Claire breathed as she looked around. "Nice room."

Massie shrugged. She had no intention of befriending the blonde and therefore no real reason to try and have a conversation with her.

"You should call it the iPad. You know, because it's all white."

"Funny, that's exactly what my friends back home said when I emailed them pictures," Massie commented, looking at Claire thoughtfully. Maybe there was something to this girl other than poor taste in clothes. As Claire continued to check out the room, Massie examined her. She was pretty, in a plain sort of way. With a little make-up and a wardrobe change, she could be cute.

"You know," Massie said slowly. "I have a lot of clothes in pastels. I look absolutely sickly in them, but they'd look great on you."

"You think?" Claire asked shyly, tugging on her blonde bangs.

"Definitely. In fact, you can borrow some of them, if you want." Normally Massie wasn't one to be overly nice, but if she was going to rule Orlando Middle School, she would need a loyal beta. And what better way to win over Claire's loyalty than to let her borrow her clothes?

"Um, okay. Thanks."

"No problem," Massie replied lightly before disappearing into the walk-in closet. Upon reappearing, her arms were laden with designer clothes.

"Here," she said, shoving the pile at Claire. "Try these on."

Claire hastily did as she was told, stripping down to her underwear and pulling on the BCBG plaid Bermuda shorts and white eyelet baby doll top.

"What do you think?" she asked nervously.

"I think you should wear that to school tomorrow."

"Really? You don't mind?"

"Of course nawt. Now, take a seat at my vanity. I know just how to play up those baby blue eyes of yours."


	6. Touchy, Touché

Well I was half-way through writing this when I got an awful case of writer's block. Mmph.

So sorry this chapter's so short and all that.

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When Claire got on the bus the next morning, dressed in Massie's clothes, her face made-up, and her straight, white blonde hair silky and frizz-free, Sarah and Sari gaped at her.

"Who are you and what did you do with my friend?" Sarah asked, half jokingly.

"Wow, Claire, if it weren't for the Keds, I wouldn't have even recognized you," Sari put in.

Claire glanced down at her feet. Massie had offered to loan her a pair of heels, but Claire couldn't walk in any of them. Finally, Massie had relented and told her that her all-white Keds slip-ons would look fine with the borrowed plaid shorts and eyelet top. The overall look, Massie had decided, was "comfy-cute."

"Where'd you get that outfit?" Sari asked curiously.

"Um. Garage sale," Claire lied. She planned on keeping Sarah in the dark about her budding friendship with Massie Block for as long as possible.

"And since when do you wear make-up?" Sarah questioned.

"Since this summer," Claire shot back defensively.

"Touchy," Sarah commented, but dropped the subject.

When they arrived at the school, the three friends met up with Mandy in the cafeteria. Sarah poked fun at all the "Massie Wannabes" walking around. In the ten minutes since they had arrived at all the school, they had seen at least fifteen girls dressed in a variation of Massie's outfit from the day before. Claire wondered if Sarah would call her a Massie Wannabe too when she found out that her outfit was not bought at a garage sale, but instead borrowed from the infamous brunette's closet. Finally, the bell rang, dismissing them from the cafeteria. The girls parted ways and Claire made her way over to her locker. Girls who normally ignored her now stopped to say hello, and guys who Claire had always considered out of her league were checking her out. The attention was slightly unnerving, but Claire kind of liked it. _This_, she thought, _is what it must feel like to be Massie Block._

-xo-

Massie arrived at school slightly late that morning. She had taken her time picking out her outfit (a shrunken denim blazer over a lavender strapless sundress), straightening her glossy brown hair, and applying her make-up—the result being that she looked flawless, as always.

When she entered homeroom, Sarah ignored her, and she ignored Sarah. Massie couldn't help but notice, however, that Little Miss Surfer Wannabe had ditched the shell encrusted flip-flops. Looking around, she saw that Sarah wasn't the only one taking her fashion advice. Four of the girls in her class had on headbands and ballet flats and two of them sported a button-down and skirt combination. Massie silently congratulated herself for having people imitate her after only one day.

Just then, a piece of paper folded up into a tiny square landed on the floor beside her lavender Michael Kors wedge-clad foot. Massie picked it up and slid it underneath her desk to read it.

**I'd watch out if I were you.**

Massie rolled her eyes, and crumpled the piece of paper into a ball. When the teacher wasn't looking, she turned around in her desk and dead-eyed Sarah.

"It must suck to not have a cell phone and actually have to resort to passing notes," she hissed.

"It's not like I'd ever want to text _you_ anyway," Sarah shot back.

Touché. Little Miss Surfer Wannabe's got game, after all.


	7. Slight Flaw

"Earth to Claire. I'm talking to you," Massie said, waving her hand in front of the blonde's face. They were dressed out for gym class in the standard uniform of green shorts and blue OMS t-shirt. Today they were supposed to be working out in the weight room, but the only muscles any of the girls in the class were using were the ones in their mouths.

"Huh?" Claire shook her head, forcing herself to pay better attention. Her thoughts had been wandering to Sarah and her supposed revenge plan. Claire wanted to warn her new friend about it, but she couldn't do so without betraying her old friend. It was best, Claire had decided, to try and stay out of Massie and Sarah's little feud.

If only that were actually possible.

"As I was saying, Kuh-laire, you should sit with me at lunch today," Massie said, watching Claire expectantly.

"But… what about the friends I normally sit with?"

"They can sit with us, too," Massie allowed. Claire couldn't help but think that Massie wouldn't have been so generous if she knew who Claire's friends actually were. Specifically, that Sarah was one of them.

"What if they don't want to sit at your table?" Claire asked nervously.

"_Everyone_ wants to sit at my table," Massie scoffed.

"Not everyone," Claire muttered under her breath.

"Besides," Massie continued, "_you're_ going to be sitting there. If they don't like you enough to want to sit with you, then they're not really your friends."

"Massie? There might be a slight flaw in your logic," Claire pointed out.

"And what's that?"

"They could say the exact same thing about me."

-xo-

"Where's Claire?" Mandy asked that day at lunch.

"Um, I think she said she didn't finish her required reading list this summer and was going to spend lunch in the library so she could finish reading _A Separate Peace_," Sari answered.

"Huh. I thought Claire finished all her reading at the beginning of the summer," Sarah commented.

"Apparently not," Sari shrugged.

In reality, of course, Claire was sitting a few tables away with Massie.

"What are you planning on wearing tomorrow?" Massie was asking her.

"Um. Jeans and a shirt?"

"Wrong answer. I'm taking you to the mall today so you can get some cute clothes of your own," Massie said decidedly before taking a bite of her salad.

"I don't know if I can afford any of the clothes you think are cute, Massie," Claire pointed out.

"My treat, ahb-viously," Massie explained.

"Wouldn't that just be like me borrowing from you?"

"No, Kuh-laire. What we buy at the mall today will be a _gift_," Massie said slowly, as if she were talking to someone with a low IQ.

"Um. Okay," Claire said, feeling uncomfortable about Massie paying for her all the same. It felt odd coming from someone she'd only been friends with—only known, even—for a day. If she was dealing with Sarah, Sari, or Mandy, Claire wouldn't have given it a second thought. Then again, Sarah, Sari, and Mandy didn't shop at clothing stores where a hundred dollar shirt was considered cheap.

Massie went on to explain about how Isaac would pick them up in the Range Rover and drive them to the mall after school. Massie's parents would be fine with it, but Claire could borrow Massie's cell phone if she needed to ask her parents' permission. And so on.

The bell rang, signaling the ending of lunch. Claire picked up her tray and walked over to the trash cans to dump its contents. Just as she was turning to leave the lunchroom, she caught sight of Sarah, Sari, and Mandy heading towards the cans with their trays and quickly ducked behind one. If they saw her, Claire's entire ruse about being in the library would be ruined.

"So, when are you going to carry out your plan?" Sari was asking.

_Oh God_, Claire thought, _they're talking about Sarah's revenge plan on Massie_.

"Friday," Sarah said decisively as she emptied her tray into the garbage can. When the coast was clear, Claire slowly stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. Sarah was going to do something to Massie on Friday that would make everyone forget about how Massie humiliated her. Claire had no idea what this revenge plan was, but knowing Sarah, it was going to be big.


	8. Wardrobe Staples

"What do you think of these?" Claire asked, gesturing to her pale green Tory Burch flats clad feet. It was after school and they were at the mall, as per the arrangements they made earlier.

"Definitely not," Massie said, shaking her head.

"Why? They're pastel, like you said looks good on me. And they're designer, too," Claire protested. In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have been questioning the girl who was paying for everything Claire bought. But Claire really liked those flats, gosh darn it.

"We're looking for wardrobe staples. A pair of pale green flats doesn't exactly fit into the 'wear with anything' category." Massie's air quotes were sharp and full of attitude, just like her voice. Claire resigned to the fact that when it came to fashion, Massie was right, as always, kicked the shoes off her feet, and shoved them back in the box.

"Why don't you try looking for shoes in earth tones?" Massie suggested. "Like… these cute brown wedges?"

"I can't walk in heels," Claire argued, shaking her head. "Plus, they pinch my toes."

"Don't be such a baby. It's only half an inch."

Claire slid the shoes on her feet, and lo and behold, she could actually walk in them.

"One small step for Claire. One giant leap for womankind!" Massie teased.

"Very funny," Claire retorted, but put the shoes back in the box and allowed Massie to buy them for her all the same.

After they'd hit every store in the mall (every store Massie deemed worthy of shopping at, anyway), Claire found her arms laden with shopping bags filled with designer clothes—all of which Massie had considered "wardrobe staples." The bags contained the latest pair of Sevens jeans, two Ralph Lauren polos, pale blue Juicy sweats, camisoles in three different colors, Gucci sunglasses, a denim mini, heather gray leggings, a DKNY shrunken jean blazer, and black ballet flats—all in addition to the Tory Burch wedges. Claire was pretty sure no one had ever spent that much money on her in her life, but Massie brushed it off as if it were nothing. To her, it probably was—Massie was carrying twice as many shopping bags as Claire. Still, Claire wasn't sure her parents would approve. She _knew_ Sarah, Sari, and Mandy wouldn't.

"Tomorrow," Massie decreed as they walked out of the mall's automatic doors, "you should wear the pink tank top, mini skirt, and wedges."

"Okay," Claire agreed. She had secretly been hoping to wear the deliciously comfortable Juicy sweats, but considering how hot it was, wearing the camisole-and-skirt combination instead would probably be cooler, if not quite as comfy-cozy.

Massie pressed a speed dial on her phone, calling Isaac to come get them. A few minutes later, he pulled up in the shiny black Range Rover. Even though she had ridden in it on the way to the mall, Claire still found herself impressed by the sleek vehicle. There was a cube-shaped television hanging from the ceiling and a mini-fridge stocked with mineral water and fresh fruit. They were sitting on plush leather seats, and their faces were fanned by the cool air conditioning circling throughout the car. It definitely beat the school bus, and Claire told Massie so.

"You can always car pool with me to school," Massie offered.

Claire considered. If she rode to school with Massie, she wouldn't have to deal with early morning interrogations about her outfit by Sarah and Sari on the bus. On the other hand, she was already ditching her friends to sit with Massie at lunch. Should she really ditch them to ride to school with Massie, too?

Claire glanced around at her surroundings once more. In her mind's eye, she could picture herself laughing and talking with Massie, exchanging the morning gossip. She saw herself eating fresh berries while watching morning talk shows on the TV. It was without a doubt more glamorous than riding the school bus with Sarah and Sari.

"Okay," Claire consented. She could always sit with Sarah, Sari, and Mandy at lunch tomorrow, and give Massie the same excuse she had given them today.

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up in front of Claire's small, but comfortable, house. Claire could tell Massie was struggling to come up with something nice to say about it.

"It's… quaint," she said finally. Claire rolled her eyes, but grinned all the same at Massie's attempt at being polite. Claire knew her home could never compare to the magnificence that was the Block Estate, but she liked how warm and cozy it was.

Claire made sure she had all her shopping bags before thanking Isaac for the ride, waving goodbye to Massie, and starting up the driveway. She let herself in through the front door, looking around for her parents. She heaved a sigh of relief. The coast was clear. Claire kicked off her Keds and padded barefoot down the hall to her bedroom, where she shoved her numerous shopping bags in the closet. If her mother found out how much money Claire had spent in one shopping trip, she would have completely flipped out. If she found out that it wasn't even Claire's money, but Massie's... Claire would be in even worse trouble.

"Never a borrower nor a lender be." That was something her mother had always told her.

Well. At least Claire wasn't a lender.


	9. Negative, Ghostrider

I can't believe I'm at chapter nine already. Dang.

I'm going to be out of town until June 16th at a soccer tournament, so don't expect any updates until then! More information can be found on my profile.

* * *

Thursday went by without incident. Massie had shown up to school in the bright yellow Alice + Olivia shorts and white Ella Moss blouse she had purchased the day before. She picked up Claire in the Range Rover, as planned, and they spent the car ride comparing all the cute boys they had classes with. When they got to school, Massie made a game out of counting how many LBRS had mimicked their outfits from the day before. Claire couldn't help but think that Sarah was probably playing that exact same game. It really was too bad Sarah hated Massie. They could've been good friends.

During gym class, Claire told Massie that she was going to spend lunch in the library so she could finish her required reading leftover from that summer. Massie believed her--what reason did she have not to?--and Claire was able to sit with Sarah, Sari, and Mandy undetected.

Then after school was out, Isaac took Massie and Claire home, stopping at Starbucks on the way for frappuccinos, despite Claire's protests that she didn't drink coffee.

Now it was Thursday evening, and Massie was standing before the life-size mannequin that stood in one corner of her room. It was currently dressed in a Chip & Pepper distressed denim mini and a plum scoop-neck fitted t-shirt. She grabbed a bunch of long silver necklaces and draped them over the neck of the mannequin.

"The necklaces give it a funky bohemian vibe, don't you agree, Bean?" Massie asked, placing one hand on her hip as she surveyed her handiwork. Bean barked in agreement, and Massie bent down to scratch her behind the ears.

"Massie?" William Block poked his head through the doorway. "Are you and Bean ready for our evening walk?"

"Just a second!" Massie replied, fetching a pair of silver Jimmy Choos from her closet and placing them on the floor beside the mannequin. "Okay, let's go."

-xo-

_It's a wonder her tiny neck doesn't break under the weight of all those necklaces_, Sarah thought to herself that morning as Massie entered homeroom. She resisted making a comment about it, however. Sweet revenge would come at lunch.

The bell rang, and Sarah made her way over to the snack machines where she always met up with Claire, Sari, and Mandy. The three of them were already munching on sour gummy worms. Sarah reached her hand into the bag and popped a few in her mouth.

"Um, I won't be at lunch again, guys," Claire was saying. "I have a dentist appointment scheduled at that time."

Sarah looked at her. Today Claire was wearing yet another designer ensemble: a Ralph Lauren polo over Sevens jeans. It seemed to Sarah that Claire was never around anymore--she didn't even ride the bus anymore!--and when she was around, she wasn't acting like herself. Or dressing like herself, for that matter.

"Okay," Sarah said slowly. "You still up for boogie-boarding at the beach this weekend?"

"Ehmagawd, I completely forgot about that!" Claire exclaimed, smacking her palm against her forehead. "Maybe next weekend?"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever," Sarah shrugged as the bell rang and the four of them went their seperate ways. "Ehmagawd" sounded like something _Massie_ would say. Actually, Claire's new clothes looked like something Massie would wear, too. _No_, Sarah decided, shaking her head. _Claire would never ditch us to hang out with that female dog._

-xo-

"Gawd, Kuh-laire, you're such a clutz," Massie said, rolling her eyes as she handed the blonde a napkin. Claire had just taken a bite of her hot dog and managed to spill ketchup on her new jeans in the process.

"That's what you get for eating a greasy, disgusting hot dog," Massie admonished as Claire dabbed at the red stain on her thigh.

Just then, someone knocked into the back of Massie's chair, dumping the remains of their tray on her head.

"Oops!" Sarah giggled. "Sorry about that."

Massie glared up at the girl. Tomato sauce dripped down her forehead onto her lap, and her hair was a sticky mess of spaghetti, soggy green beans, and milk.

"You should be," Massie said in her most dignified voice, despite the fact that she looked like she had just crawled out of a dumpster. "You're paying for it."

"Negative, ghostrider. It's not my fault you're stupid enough to spend over a hundred dollars on a skirt," Sarah smirked. She glanced at the blonde sitting beside Massie, who was furiously scrubbing at at a ketchup stain on her jeans and avoiding eye contact with Sarah.

"Claire?" Sarah exclaimed, completely dumb-founded.

"Um, h-hey Sarah," Claire said meekly.

"WHAT THE EF ARE YOU DOING SITTING AT MASSIE BLOCK'S LUNCH TABLE?"

Massie spoke before Claire could even open her mouth to reply. "Unlike you, she's cool enough to hang out with me and doesn't have to resort to dumping food on my head to get my attention. Come on, Claire, we're going to the bathroom to clean up." Massie grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her out of the cafeteria, leaving Sarah standing gaping at their table.


	10. Not So Perfect, After All

I thought I'd sneak in an update before I left this morning. :)

This chapter is for everyone who didn't think Sarah's revenge was as bad as it should have been. You didn't really think all she was going to do was dump a plate of food on Massie's head, did you?

* * *

"Wait. You're not mad at me?" Claire asked. Massie stood over the sink, dumping a bottle of Perrier over her head in an attempt to rinse out her hair. Claire tentatively picked a piece of food out of Massie's hair and threw it on the floor.

"For what? Being friends with that LBR?" Massie asked, running her hands through her now sopping wet coffee brown locks and frowning in disgust when she game across a noodle.

"LBR?"

"Loser beyond repair," Massie supplied, walking over to one of the automatic hand dryers and using it as an impromptu blow dryer.

"Ordinarily," Massie admitted as she held her head underneath the blast of hot hair, "you would be an LBR by association. However, if I'm going to get back at her for this, I'm going to need your help."

"_You_ need _my _help?" Claire asked, dumb-founded.

"Of course," Massie said, smoothing her now dry hair. Looking at it, Claire couldn't even tell that food had been dumped on her head moments before. "You know Sarah better than anyone. You know exactly the best way to humiliate her."

Massie stripped herself of the stained clothing and pulled a pair of royal purple Juicy Sweats out of her bag. At Claire's questioning look, Massie explained that she always had a pair of Juicy Sweats on her, just in case.

No wonder she carried such a big purse.

By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Massie was ready to return to class. On her way out the bathroom door, though, she stopped and turned to face Claire.

"But Claire? You have to know which side you're on. No more leading a double life."

Claire understood this to mean no more hanging out with Sarah, Sari, and Mandy. Well, it wasn't like Sarah was about to forgive her anytime soon. And Claire knew Mandy and Sari would take Sarah's side. If she wanted to have any friends at all, her best bet would be to stick by Massie.

Besides, Claire had a feeling Massie would come out on top. She always did.

-xo-

The weekend went by in a blur of shopping, plotting, and spa treatments. Massie insisted on Claire spending the night at her house (back in Westchester, Massie apparently had weekly Friday night sleepovers) and they treated themselves to a night of manicures, pedicures, and face masks. They spent most of the night trying to figure out how to get back at Sarah—Claire only half-heartedly—but as of yet hadn't come up with anything. Then Saturday morning, they went to the mall again. Claire window-shopped while Massie replaced the jean skirt Sarah had ruined.

Monday morning Claire and Massie walked into the building side-by-side. Massie was working her blank model stare, but Claire found herself distracted by the pictures pasted to the walls.

"Um, Massie?"

"What?"

"You might want to take a look at this."

All across the lockers were pictures of Massie covered in food. It was clear that Sarah had gotten Sari and Mandy to photograph the tray-dumping incident, and sometime over the weekend the three of them had blown up all the pictures and stuck them all over the walls, with captions underneath saying things like "Not So Perfect, After All" and "Haven't You Heard? Food Is The Latest Style In Paris!"

It was completely humiliating, but like a true alpha, Massie acted as if she were in complete control of the situation.

"Start tearing them down," Massie ordered. Claire wordlessly obeyed, and together the two of them started down the hallway, Massie on one side and Claire on the other, ripping down all the pictures of the tray dumping incident. A roar of laughter went up every time they passed a group of kids, but Massie was doing her best to ignore them and Claire followed her example.

Once all the posters were crumpled at the bottom of the trash cans in the lunchroom, Massie turned to Claire.

"You know what this means, right?"

Claire shook her head.

"This means war."


	11. Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

I'm back from my soccer tournament! Did you miss me? ;)

* * *

Claire stood at her locker, rummaging through it in search of her history book. A crumpled piece of homework fell out, and she bent down to pick it up off the cold tiled floor. Next to the piece of paper were two tanned feet incased in a pair of brown Old Navy flip flops. As Claire straightened, she saw that the feet belonged to Sari.

"Hi, Claire!" The petite girl smiled at her, her blue eyes shining innocently underneath dirty blonde side bangs.

"Hey," Claire said warily, shutting the door of her locker and heading for her next class. Sari fell into step beside her.

"So, um, are you friends with Massie now or something?" Sari asked as they walked.

"Yeah. She's not as bad as you guys think she is, you know."

"What about what she did to Sarah?"

"What about what you guys did to her?" Claire retorted, stopping in her tracks and spinning around to face Sari, her hands perched on her hips.

"That _was_ kind of mean," Sari admitted, nervously twirling a piece of dirty blonde hair around her finger.

"Kind of? Do you know how long it took to rip down all those posters? How many people were laughing at Massie as she walked by them?" Claire asked angrily.

"How about how long it took for us to put all those posters up? How many people laughed at Sarah, calling her 'Stare-ah' behind her back?" Sari stopped and took a deep breath. "Look Claire, neither one of them is innocent. But Sarah has been your friend for years. You just met Massie. Which friendship is really more important to you?"

The bell rang, and Sari left for her own class, leaving Claire to figure out the answer for herself. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy had always been there for her. They had been best friends forever and they knew everything about her. Massie had just become Claire's friend, and yet she was infinitely cooler and she always knew exactly the right way to handle every situation. So whose friendship did she value more?

Massie's words rang in her ears.

_You have to know which side you're on._

Claire sighed. She'd picked Massie's side, but she wished she hadn't had to pick sides in the first place. Whatever happened to that song they learned back in Girl Scouts?

_Make new friends, but keep the old  
One is silver and the other's gold  
A circle is round, it has no end  
That's how long I want to be your friend_

It was clear to Claire that being friends with Massie meant ending her friendship with Sarah, Sari, and Mandy.

So much for friendships having no end.

-xo-

Massie was sitting in her desk, her notebook open in front of her. Instead of taking notes like her Earth Science teacher probably assumed she was doing, she was making a list of things she knew about Sarah.

-deathly afraid of spiders  
-allergic to dogs  
-wet her bed at surfing sleep-away camp last summer

This information, passed along to her by Claire, was interesting, but Massie had no idea how she could possibly use it for her own gain. She sighed, tapping the tip of her fuzzy purple pen against the desk in thought. She needed to humiliate Sarah on a grand scale… but how?

The corners of Massie's mouth curved upward as a thought formed in her head. This was going to be good. It would be difficult and would take a lot of planning, but if she played her cards right, she might just be able to pull this off.


	12. Just Follow My Lead

"Come AWN, Kuh-laire." Massie tugged the blonde's arm, pulling her in the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

"But…why aren't we eating lunch?" Claire asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"I have to talk to Principal Weezer about something, and this was the only time I could schedule an appointment," Massie explained, rolling her eyes as if it were the most ahb-vious thing in the world.

"What do you have to talk to Principal Weezer about?" Claire asked as she allowed the brunette to drag her down the hall to the principal's office, Massie's silver Manolos clacking on the smooth linoleum.

"Just follow my lead," Massie instructed, reaching out and turning the door handle with her French manicured fingers. Claire shrugged her white cotton shrug draped shoulders and walked into the office after her.

"How can I help you?" the assistant looked up from the stack of papers on her desk at the two designer-clad girls. Massie had on a heather gray knit jumper by Juicy Couture over straight-leg Citizens of Humanity jeans. Claire was wearing the borrowed-from-Massie DKNY shrug over a nautical striped tank top she'd had forever, the Sevens jeans Massie bought her, and her white Keds.

"I'm here to see Principal Weezer," Massie explained sweetly.

"I'll let her know you're here." The assistant, a primly dressed woman in her mid-forties with a severe brown bob, got up from her black rolling chair and walked into the adjoining office. A few moments later she reappeared and beckoned the two girls in. Massie smoothed her hand over her glossy brunette hair and walked confidently into the room. Claire followed meekly behind her. She'd never been in the principal's office before and she couldn't help but feel like she was in trouble for something.

"How can I help you two girls?" Principal Weezer asked as they entered the room.

"I wanted to talk to you about hosting a… fund-raiser of sorts. To benefit the school," Massie explained slowly, carefully selecting her words. Claire raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

"I just love when students are interested in helping their school." Weezer leaned forward conspiratorially, propping her elbows on the wooden desk. "Tell me, what is it you're planning to do?"

"I was thinking that we—Claire and I—could host a fashion show. We could hold it in the gym after school and charge a five dollar entry fee," Massie explained matter-of-factly.

"I think that's a lovely idea," Principal Weezer declared. "And the two of you will organize everything yourselves? Advertise it? Put up posters?"

"I've got it all covered." Massie smiled, tucking a lock of coffee colored hair behind her ear.

"You're going to need a teacher sponsor," Weezer mused. "And some volunteers."

"How about Ms. Fields?" Claire put in, naming her homeroom teacher. The spastic, frizzy-haired red-head was horribly unorganized but incredibly enthusiastic. She made a great candidate for teacher sponsor. Massie ahb-viously ah-greed, because she flashed Claire a winning smile.

"You're going to have to go ask her nicely," the principal instructed, as if they were five.

"Of course," Massie said, a smile still plastered on her face.

"What day do you plan to host this fashion show?"

"Three weeks from today," the brunette promptly answered. "That way we'll have enough time to spread the word and get everything ready."

Claire listened as Massie and Principal Weezer continued going over all the details. It was decided that they could enlist the Sewing Club to make clothes for the show, and that sign up sheets for wannabe models could be put up in the cafeteria. Finally, the principal dismissed them, and Massie and Claire made their way to the vending machines so they could at least eat a quick snack before their next class to make up for missing lunch.

"A fashion show?" Claire inquired as she tore open a bag of Lays.

Massie wrinkled her nose in disgust at Claire's greasy choice of food, but nodded.

"Why?"

"It's all part of the plan, Kuh-laire," Massie explained, taking a bite out of her Special K strawberry breakfast bar.

"What plan?" Claire asked, crunching on a handful of chips.

"My plan to get back at Sarah."

Claire wondered how on earth a fashion show was going to help Massie get revenge on Sarah, but decided not to ask any more questions. She would probably be better off not knowing.


	13. Look Fabulous

Thanks so much for all the reviews, girlies. I cannot even tell you much I appreciate all the feedback. :)

Sorry my chapters have been so short lately (ugh, this one especially). I really will try to make the next chapter nice and long for you all. :)

* * *

**OMS FASHION SHOW  
Wednesday, October 1st  
Hosted by Massie Block & Claire Lyons  
All Proceeds To Benefit OMS  
5 Entry Fee**

**Look fabulous and support your school!  
Model Sign-Up Sheets in the Cafeteria**

The glittery, royal purple posters that dotted the walls of OMS the next day were the subject of much conversation among the students.

"_Do you think Massie will let me model?"_

"_I heard the clothes were all going to be by Versace!"_

"_No, stupid, the Sewing Club is making them!"_

Sarah rolled her eyes at all her classmates' incessant chattering about Massie and Claire's fashion show. She was almost one percent sure that the only reason Massie had decided to host the stupid thing was to make everyone forget about the pictures of her with food dumped on her head. Much to Sarah's chagrin, it had worked. Girls had stopped making fun of Massie and were now back to worshipping her.

Sarah wouldn't admit it, but she was also secretly hurt that Claire had decided to help Massie with this project. It was getting clearer and clearer each day that Claire had dropped her for Massie and wasn't looking back. Who was next? Sari and Mandy? Sarah wouldn't be able to bear it if _all_ of her friends abandoned her.

"If you ask me, it's pretty obvious she's only hosting this fashion show to make people forget about the food thing," Mandy said that day at lunch.

"My opinion exactly!" Sarah exclaimed, nodding fervently.

"And Claire's co-hosting it," Sari added glumly. "I liked her better when she was completely clueless about fashion."

"Agreed," Sarah declared, shoveling a spoon full of apple sauce into her mouth. A shadow fell on their table, and Sarah, Sari, and Mandy all simultaneously looked up to see who it was. Wearing a short red Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress over black leggings, her brunette hair as shiny as ever and her lips lick with gloss, stood Massie.

"What do you want?" Sarah growled.

"I was just wondering if you'd heard about the fashion show Claire and I were hosting," Massie said sweetly.

"If you're looking for volunteers, you're at the wrong table," Mandy replied. "None of us want anything to do with your stupid fashion show."

"That's probably a good thing," Massie sneered. "You girls just don't have what it takes to model."

"We do so have what it takes," Sari protested.

"Prove it." With that, Massie turned and flounced off to her table in the center of the cafeteria, her patent red heels click-clacking on the tiled cafeteria floor as she navigated around the bits of trash and random banana peels that littered it.

"What were you talking to them about?" Claire asked nervously as Massie delicately sat herself down in her seat.

"Oh, just the fashion show," the brunette said casually. "They're going to model for us."

"Um…okay." Claire was surprised at this turn of events. Since when were Sarah, Sari, and Mandy interested in modeling? And why was Massie acting as if it was exactly what she wanted to happen? Unless… it was exactly what she wanted to happen.

"Oh, Gawd," Claire said as the realization finally hit her. "You're going to humiliate Sarah on the catwalk."

Massie rolled her eyes. "Way to finally catch on."


	14. Are You Even Listening?

"Remind me again why we're here?" Sari grumbled as they entered the packed classroom. Girls stood in line to have their measurements taken while Massie and Claire walked around checking things off on bright purple clipboards. Ms. Fields fidgeted by her desk, anxious to help out but without anything to help with.

"Massie asked all models to stay after school and have their measurements taken so that the Sewing Club girls can start creating clothes for the show." Sarah watched Claire out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. The blonde caught sight of them standing in the doorway, bit her lip, and busied herself with her clipboard in order to avoid approaching them. Ms. Fields glanced their way and then promptly rushed over.

"What brings you girls here?" she asked breathlessly.

"We're models," Mandy declared by way of answer.

"Oh! Of course! Well, you'll have to get your measurements taken, then." The frenzied teacher sponsor looked around the crowded room, her gaze finally landing on a short, plain looking girl who had just finished taking the measurements of a pair of tall, slender twins.

"It looks like Selma's available! Go see her," Ms. Fields suggested enthusiastically.

Sarah, Sari, and Mandy dutifully walked over to their classmate and took turns holding their arms out like a T so Selma could wrap a measuring tape around their waist, across their chest, etc. Massie came over with her clipboard and starting writing down measurements with a purple fuzzy pen as Selma read them aloud, the charms on her cluttered Tiffany's bracelet tinkling. Sarah peeked at Massie's clipboard to see what else she was writing.

**Sarah- Nautical. Stripes, primary colors.  
Sari- Hippie Chic. Tie-Dyes, wooden bangles.  
Mandy- Tribal. Animal prints, crafted jewelry.**

It looked like she had taken the ideas for their outfits out of the Trends section of a fashion magazine. Still, Sarah had to admit Massie had a good eye. She had chosen just the right style for each of them. Diminutive Sari was very mellow and sweet, while Mandy's style was bold and funky. As for Sarah… well, she guessed "Nautical" was the closest Massie could get to her beachy surfer look.

They finished getting their measurements taken, thanked Selma, and left. Claire watched them go, commenting to Massie, who had walked over to compare notes, on their departure.

"I wonder how they're going to get home. They usually take the bus."

"Who cares?" Massie shrugged and strolled off to rescue a petite, wide-eyed brunette from Ms. Fields.

Claire made sure Massie was too busy to notice before rushing out the door after her old friends. The threesome were meandering down the hallway, bumping shoulders and laughing at whatever funny thing had just been said. For a moment, Claire wanted more than anything than to be one of them, carefree and easygoing, just like old times.

"Hey!" she called after them. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy slowly turned around to look at her.

"What?" Mandy asked, her hands on her hips.

"Um, I was just wondering how you guys were getting home. Since you missed the bus and all," Claire said lamely.

"We're walking," Sarah said flatly. "If you and _Massie_ don't have a problem with that."

Her tone of voice and emphasis on "Massie" underlined the fact that they were still smarting over Claire ditching them to hang out with the new girl.

"Oh. Okay," Claire managed, staring down at the borrowed-from-Massie kitten heel wedges she had squeezed her toes into and wishing she were wearing her comfy Keds instead.

Without another word, Sarah, Sari, and Mandy turned and continued walking down the hallway, and Claire was left to trudge slowly back to the classroom.

All the models, having had their measurements taken, eventually trickled out of the room, leaving only Massie, Claire, the Sewing Club girls, and Ms. Fields. Massie slid the sheets of stationary off of her clipboard and held her hand out for Claire's before taking both stacks and walking over to Ms. Field's desk to staple them all together.

"Here are all the measurements, plus my suggestions for what each girl should wear," Massie said, handing the papers over to Caitlin Moores, a tan girl with a short brown Rhianna bob who had founded the Sewing Club and was the unofficial leader of the group.

"I decided that we can auction off the clothes after the show," Massie announced. "A percentage of the money raised can go to the Sewing Club, as a thank-you for donating your time to making the clothes," she added diplomatically. For someone who was only hosting a fashion show as a way to get back at Sarah for dumping food on her head, Massie was sure putting a lot of thought into organizing it.

All the girls blushed and muttered things like "it was nothing." Claire guessed they worshipped Massie much like the rest of the student population and were more than willing to spend hours at their sewing machines if it meant working with Massie Block. Still, it was nice of Massie to offer them a portion of the proceeds.

"Come on, Kuh-laire," Massie said, turning towards her. "Isaac should be here by now." The two girls grabbed their bags—Claire's being a Jansport knapsack, Massie's being her new Kate Spade tote—and headed out the door. They walked wordlessly along the hall, down the stairs, past the lunchroom, and outside to the waiting Range Rover.

"So, as the hosts, I was thinking we should wear something simple, yet elegant," Massie announced as Isaac eased the car out of the parking lot.

"Same," Claire lied. She actually hadn't given much thought to the matter.

"We can pick something out of my closet at the next Friday night sleepover," Massie decided.

"Okay."

"And then maybe the Sunday before the show we should have a spa day."

"Sounds good." Claire glanced out the window and saw Sari, Sarah, and Mandy strolling down the side of the road arm-in-arm. She wondered if she would ever go back to being friends with them. Massie was great, but it would be nice to talk about wakeboarding or something instead of clothes all the time.

"Oh, and while we're at it you should just run down the street in your underwear," Massie added casually.

"Sure."

"Kuh-laire! Are you even listening?" Massie demanded.

"Of course!" Claire shot back indignantly, yanking her gaze away from the window.

"Then _why_ did you just ah-gree to run down the street in your underwear?" Massie asked, rolling her amber-flecked eyes.

"Okay, I guess I did stop listening," Claire admitted, tugging on her white blonde bangs.

"What is up with you today?" Massie demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't been very attentive and you don't seem very excited about any of my fashion show plans," Massie accused.

"I'm just…tired," Claire lied, faking a yawn.

"Oh. Well. Just get your beauty sleep tonight then," Massie prescribed as they pulled in front of Claire's house.

"Will do," Claire said as she threw open the door and slid out of the Range Rover.

If only sleep was the real cure to all of Claire's problems.


	15. Completely Stunning

It was the Thursday before the fashion show, and Massie was in the iPad, reclining on her white chaise in her lavender silk camisole and boy shorts pajamas and perusing the latest Teen Vogue. Her computer chimed, announcing a new email, and she tossed the magazine on her bed and walked over to the iMac, opening her Gmail with a click of her wireless mouse.

**To: Massie  
From: Caitlin Moores  
Subject: the clothes**

**We have been working overtime and are now finally finished making the outfits for the fashion show. I hope you like them! :)**

**Love, The Sewing Club**

Attached to the email were pictures of intricately sewn designs, each according to the specifications Massie had requested. There were dresses and skirts, shorts and blouses—and each and every article of clothing was absolutely ah-dorable. Underneath the pictures of each outfit were the names of the girl who would model it and the girl who had designed it. Massie quickly typed up a response (J'adore the clothes!) and dialed Claire's home number on her new LG Shine.

"Hello?" Judi Lyons answered after three rings.

"Hi, Mrs. Lyons. This is Massie," she said, her voice dripping with faux sweetness like it always did when she talked to an adult. "May I speak to Claire?"

"Of course, dear," Judi replied, and Massie heard shuffling in the background and Judi's voice calling, "Claire! Phone!" before a breathless Claire finally spoke.

"Hello?

"Kuh-laire, you seriously need a cell phone," Massie complained, twirling a lock of shiny brunette hair around her finger with one hand as she held her cell up to her ear with the other hand. "Or your own private line, at least."

"Sorry, Mass," Claire apologized, "but my parents said no cell phones until I'm sixteen. Rules are rules."

"Whatevs," Massie sighed, wandering over to her closet and checking out the selection. If the clothes she had just seen looked as good in person as they did on her computer screen, all the models were going to look completely stunning. She would definitely need something cute to wear if she wanted to outshine all of them.

"I'm guessing the real reason you called wasn't to berate me about not having my own phone," Claire reminded Massie, bringing her thoughts away from her closet and back to their conversation.

"Actually, I called because that Sewing Club girl just sent me an email. They've finished making the clothes for the Fashion Show!"

"What do they look like?" After all the work they had put into it, Claire couldn't help but start to feel excited about the show—even if its underlying purpose _was_ to humiliate her old friend.

"You'll see them tomorrow, at the official unveiling," Massie said. "I was thinking we could invite all the models to the sleepover tomorrow night and have a mock dress rehearsal."

"Okay," Claire said slowly. "You do realize that means inviting Sarah, Sari, and Mandy. Right?"

"Duh, Kuh-laire. I'm not stupid." Massie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you should come over early and help set things up."

"Okay," Claire said, and each girl said their good byes and hung up.

Massie set her phone down on her bedside table and collapsed on her fluffy duvet.

"Night, Bean," she said as she nestled herself into her sheets. With a clap of her hands, the lights were off and Massie soon drifted off to sleep. Miles away, Claire lay awake in bed, too anxious about the sleepover the next day to fall asleep. Massie and Claire plus fifteen girls, three of whom couldn't stand Massie and were still mad at Claire for ditching them? It certainly didn't equal a calm, uneventful night. No, Claire was pretty sure it equaled drama. And lots of it.

* * *

It's so much fun to write Claire. She's such a little whiner/worry-wart. R&R! :)


	16. Gisele, Tyra, and Heidi

At lunch on Friday, Massie and Claire entered the cafeteria side-by-side, Massie clad in J Brand skinny jeans tucked into knee-high Marc by Marc Jacobs suede boots and a print frock that picked up the rust color of the boots, and Claire wearing a white lace camisole, Massie's pale pink 18th Amendment shorts, and her Keds slip-ons. They each purchased a grilled chicken sandwich and a water bottle and dropped both their lunches and their bags off at their usual center table. Massie then began her rounds, paying a visit to each of the models in turn to inform them of the plans for that night, Claire following dutifully behind her. Each girl was absolutely ecstatic about the possibility of sleeping over at Massie Block's house—every girl except Sarah, Sari, and Mandy.

"So wait, you're saying I have to ditch any plans I already have and waste my time hanging out with you all night?" Sarah blurted after Massie explained about the mock-rehearsal/sleepover.

"If you want to be in the fashion show, then yes. Of course, if this is your way of chickening out," Massie began, but Mandy cut her off.

"We'll be there."

Massie's lips turned up in her infamous half-smile and she turned on heel and sauntered back to their table, Claire following behind.

"Are you sure you want to go through with it?" Claire asked hopefully. Having witnessed that scene, Claire's fears about that night were practically confirmed.

"Kuh-laire. I just invited everybody. I can't just call the sleepover off now," Massie explained impatiently. "Don't worry, it's nawt going to become a regular thing. The next sleepover will be just you and me again."

Claire's blue eyes widened in surprise. Massie thought that she was against the idea of the sleepover because she was jealous about having to share Massie with fifteen other girls.

"That's not the reason I'm worried about it," Claire insisted. "I'm worried about Sarah drama."

"Oh, her. She won't do anything, if she knows what's good for her," Massie replied calmly, ripping open a Crystal Light packet and dumping its contents into her water bottle. She shook the bottle up, turning the water a bright shade of pink, and took a sip.

"Whatever you say, Mass," Claire said in a tone that implied that she didn't actually believe it.

"It will be fine," Massie repeated with a tone of her own: finality. Claire knew better than to say anything more on the subject.

-xo-

Massie smiled as she entered their home gym/spa. It had been transformed by Inez into sleepover headquarters. The exercise equipment had been removed and replaced with seventeen sleeping bags arranged in a semi-circle facing the plasma screen TV mounted on the wall. A table laden with butter-less popcorn, chocolate-dipped strawberries, one hundred calorie packs, and other low fat treats (Massie couldn't have her models gaining any weight before the show) stood against one wall and a mini fridge stocked with Perrier water and diet soda sat next to it. A make-shift catwalk had been built by rolling out a red carpet, and all the outfits, which had been delivered by Caitlin earlier that afternoon, hung on a costume rack that was, for now, tucked out of sight in the closet normally reserved for the complimentary B embroidered towels given to the guests who used the spa facilities.

There was a knock on the door and Massie opened it, letting Claire in.

"Wow," Claire breathed, looking around at the transformation. She had changed into the pale blue Juicy sweats Massie had bought her and had an over night bag slung over her shoulder. "Where should I put this?" she asked, shifting her weight to her other foot and glancing at the bag.

"Over there," Massie said, pointing at the empty corner she had reserved for such things. In twos and threes the other girls began to trickle in, each gushing over the huge Block Estate and the room where they would be staying the night before adding a bag to the growing pile. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy were the last to arrive and the only ones to not compliment Massie on her house. Massie decided to ignore them.

"Are you girls ready to see the clothes you'll be wearing?" Massie asked. Some of the girls cheered, while others nodded in anticipation. Massie walked slowly over to the closet, turning the knob in slow motion. She eased the door open, shielding the contents with her body so as to drag the moment out as long as possible.

"Let us see!" one of the models, a curly-haired brunette named Maddie called out impatiently. Her friend, Sophie, nodded fervently, her blonde Taylor Swift hair bouncing.

In one fluid moment, Massie rolled out the costume rack and stepped to the side so everyone could see it. The girls ooh-ed and aw-ed, rushing over to check out the clothes. Sari and Mandy looked like they wanted to join in, but stood loyally by Sarah's side.

"Each article of clothing has a tag on it naming the model who is to wear it," Massie announced. The girls squealed in approval as they found the clothes designed for them and took them off the rack, holding them up to their bodies for their friends' opinions.

"Can we try them on?" a diminutive Asian girl with super-straight jet-black hair asked, longingly fingering the fabric.

"Nawt yet," Massie said, shaking her head and walking over to the buffet table. She picked up a universal remote off the buffet table and pointed it at the TV. _Glamorous_ by Fergie filled the air as a montage of supermodels strutting their stuff filled the screen, and the girls slowly turned away from the costume rack to watch Gisele, Tyra, and Heidi do their thing on the catwalk.

"What you're looking at," Massie said, turning down the volume of the music so she wouldn't have to raise her voice, "are some of the top models in the industry. These are the women you are going to emulate at the Fashion Show." The girls nodded in appreciation, their eyes still glued to the screen. Sarah rolled her eyes, and Sari and Mandy masked their genuine interest by crossing their arms over their chests. The movie ended and everyone turned to face Massie, who cleared her throat.

"So… who wants to model first?"


	17. 89 Dollar Pajamas

All the girls changed into the clothes they would be modeling and lined up beside the make-shift catwalk. Massie grabbed a cordless microphone and the remote and pulled Claire off to the side with her.

"First up is Allison Gray sporting a dress by Caitlin Moores!" Massie announced into the microphone. She clicked her remote, blasting the room with music, and Allison burst onto the catwalk, doing her best to imitate Heidi Klum's sexy strut in a blue and white horizontal striped shift. A sailor hat perched on her head gave the ensemble an extra touch, and Massie found herself once again admiring the Sewing Club's creations.

_I'm hot; you're cold  
You go around like you know  
Who I am, but you don't  
You got me on my toes_

Next up was a pair of identical twins in matching blouse and shorts combinations. One of them had on a white shirt and navy high-waisted button-up shorts and the other had on a navy blouse and white shorts. They linked arms and skipped side-by-side down the red carpet.

_I'm slipping into the lava  
And I'm trying to keep from going under  
Baby you turn the temperature hotter  
Cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up for you baby_

Then it was Sarah's turn. Claire braced herself, but then found she needed not have. Sarah simply strutted down the catwalk in her tiered yellow skirt and blue and white striped fitted tee with a "don't know, don't care" attitude. She was a natural.

_I fell so fast  
Can't hold myself back  
High heels, red dress  
All by yourself—Gotta catch my breath!_

Once all fifteen girls walked down the catwalk—five in nautical outfits, five working a tribal look, and five wearing hippie-style tie-dyes—everyone changed back out of their model clothes and into their pajamas. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy, however, simply put their regular clothes back on.

"We did the mock dress rehearsal," Sarah told Massie flatly. "Can we go now?"

"And miss out on all this?" Massie asked, gesturing at the girls dancing on the couch, the spread of food on the buffet table, and the neat semi-circle of sleeping bags.

Sarah looked at Sari and Mandy for support, but they had already been roped into a heated game of Truth or Dare and were sitting in the laughing, giggling circle.

"Fine, I'll stay," Sarah relented, and joined Sari and Mandy in the Truth or Dare game. Massie looked around, weighing her options, and then did the same.

"Okay," Mandy said. "Sarah. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Sarah decided.

"Would you rather kiss our history teacher…or get raped by a polar bear?"

"Ewww! Definitely the polar bear," Sarah said, shuddering at the idea of kissing their old, beer-bellied teacher's dry, cracked lips. Having answered the question, it was her turn to pick someone.

"Massie," she said, her lips turning upward in a smirk. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Massie challenged, flipping her glossy hair over her shoulder.

Sarah thought. What's something that would be completely humiliating?

"I dare you to…jump in the pool. Butt. Naked."

"Fine," Massie shot back. If she was nervous at all, she didn't show it. Sarah had to admit she was impressed. Massie stood up and walked out the door in the direction of the pool, the gaggle of girls following slightly behind.

Massie kept walking until she stood at the edge of the water. She peeled off her pale pink lace camisole, matching silk boy short bottoms, and white silk La Perla undies and bra before finally removing her silver Tiffany's charm bracelet. She raised her arms above her head and did a perfect dive into the pool, thanking Gawd for water-proof make-up. She stayed underwater until she was sure the blush that had reddened her cheeks had disappeared completely. Massie gasped when she finally resurfaced to find everyone gone. And it appeared they had taken her clothes with them. Only her charm bracelet remained, glittering on the damp sidewalk.

"Mass?" Claire approached her, nervously holding out one of the B embroidered towels. "I thought you'd want this."

"Thanks," Massie said, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around her wet body. Together the two walked back into the gym/spa, where they found all the girls, a few of whom promptly burst out laughing while the rest watched Massie nervously for her reaction. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy were among the ones laughing. Massie kept her composure.

"Sarah, I know you shop at a thrift store, but I wasn't quite ready to donate those yet." Some of the girls giggled, and Sarah seethed.

"Will you STOP acting like you're better than everyone else just because you shop at expensive stores?" she spat.

"Says the girl who has my eighty-nine dollar pajamas in her lap," Massie retorted. Sarah threw the clothes back at Massie, who caught them. She was making her way toward the changing rooms to get dressed when Sarah stuck out a leg, tripping her. Massie caught herself with her hands before she fell on her face and daintily picked herself up. She slowly turned around to face Sarah, who was smirking. Massie reached into the bowl of popcorn sitting on the buffet table, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and hurled it at Sarah. Sarah retaliated by grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Massie, who ducked, causing the pillow to hit one of the twins in the face. The twin angrily chucked the pillow in Sarah's direction, missing and nailing Mandy. It erupted into a full-out pillow fight, and the girls ran around the room, squealing and smacking each other with pillows. Massie took this as the perfect opportunity to slip into the changing rooms and put her clothes back on. When she emerged, the pillow fight had died down and all the girls had sleepily tucked themselves into their sleeping bags. Massie crawled into her own sleeping bag in between Claire and a short blonde whose name Massie knew to be Brandi.

Claire widened her eyes at Massie, giving her a what-did-I-tell-you-look?

"What I do to her at the fashion show will be much worse," Massie mouthed silently before rolling over and drifting off to sleep.

Claire sighed and tried to do the same. She lay awake in her sleeping bag, staring at the wall. By the heated whispers coming from the direction of Sarah, Sari, and Mandy's sleeping bags, she could tell she wasn't the only one still awake. Suddenly, Claire felt very, very lonely.

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter. 'Cause it's going to be my last until I get back from Hawaii on July 2nd. Leave me some good reviews to come back to! :)


	18. Spectacular Revenge Scheme

Sorry I took so long to get this chapter out. Between jet lag, an extreme case of writers' block, and 4th of July festivities, this literally took forever to write. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Rate me, Bean," Massie said as she turned to face her full-length mirror, just like she had on the first day of school. But today was important in an entirely different way. Today was the day she was going to take Sarah down.

She looked every bit the fashion show hostess that she was in a white voile dress by Ella Moss cinched with a royal purple belt. A matching purple beret was jauntily perched atop her piles of coffee brown curls—even if she wouldn't actually be modeling, Massie would at least look like a French model. Shimmering white eye shadow brightened her amber eyes and black mascara lengthened her already voluminous lashes. A hint of blush gave her cheeks a "naturally" rosy glow, and the yummy scent of Cotton Candy wafted from the generously applied pink-tinted Glossip Girl on her lips. Even before Bean barked ten times in approval, Massie knew she was a perfect ten.

Slipping her French Manicured toes into her favorite vintage white Chanel ballet flats, Massie grabbed her oversize Coach signature tote off the hook on her wall and sat it down on the floor.

"Come on, Bean," she said, patting the bag. "You're coming to school with Mommy today." Bean yapped disapprovingly but hopped inside all the same. Massie gingerly slung the purse over her shoulder, making sure her black pug was comfortable. He should be, considering the blanket she had lined the purse with and the doggie treats that littered its bottom.

"Just don't pee in it, okay?" Massie instructed. "That purse cost a fortune." She paused. "On second thought, go ahead and pee in it. This is _last season's _Coach and if you ruined it I would have an excuse to buy a new one." Massie gently tucked the dog's head inside the purse so that no part of Bean was visible and left it unzipped so that the small black pug could still breathe. She slacked on one last coat of gloss and gave her hair one last fluff before she was finally ready.

Isaac was waiting outside the Range Rover. He wordlessly opened the door for Massie to slip into the car before going around and getting into the driver's seat.

"You're late," he commented, glancing at Massie in the rearview mirror as she adjusted her purse on her lap. Massie shrugged and continued to fuss with her bag. "You know I don't like to keep Claire waiting."

"Whatevs," Massie snapped. "Who cares as long as we get to school on time?" Isaac fell silent, and the remainder of the ride to Claire's house was spent in silence.

"Hi Claire," Isaac greeted warmly as Claire let herself into the car and settled herself into her plush leather seat. "Fair warning—Massie's testy today." Claire's ensemble consisted of a pale blue DNKY shirtdress Massie had lent her over heather gray leggings. Massie ballooned with pride at the thought of how far Claire had come since the first day of school, but quickly deflated when Claire opened her mouth.

"Oh, she's always like that when she's nervous," Claire replied, biting back an "Ow!" and shooting Massie a look when the brunette stomped down on her foot—hard.

"What does Massie have to be nervous about?" Isaac questioned.

"Um, hosting the fashion show, of course. What else?" Claire said quickly.

"Nice save," Massie mouthed. But they both knew it would take a lot more than that to make Massie Block anxious. Specifically, pulling off a spectacular revenge scheme without getting caught. There was always the possibility it would backfire—but Massie wouldn't even let herself consider that. Her plan _would _work. She'd make sure of it.

* * *

This was a little bit of a teaser for you guys. You're going to have to wait one more chapter to finally see the results of Massie's big plan. I just hope it's big enough for all of you!

Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated. :)


	19. The Show Must Go On

The fashion show was taking place in the cafeteria during homeroom. Several of the rectangle lunch tables had been pushed together so that the models could step off the stage onto a makeshift catwalk. As students began trickling into the cafeteria, Massie busily supervised everything backstage.

"No, Mandy, you are NAWT wearing those shoes on _my _catwalk. Go barefoot if you have to!" When Claire approached Massie, she was angrily telling off the raven-haired girl for wanting to wear sneakers with her animal print dress.

"Kuh-laire, thank GAWD you're here," Massie exclaimed upon catching sight of Claire. "Take over for me?" Without waiting for the blonde to answer, Massie took off in the direction of the clothing racks. Glancing both ways to make sure no one was watching her, she slipped Sarah's outfit off its hanger and ducked into a closet.

"Okay, Bean," Massie whispered, setting her purse on the floor and lifting the black pug out of it. "Let's do this thing." Massie turned the shirt inside-out and rubbed it all over Bean, covering it in little black dog hairs. Then she did the same with the skirt. Tucking Bean back into her bag, Massie slipped back out of the closet and hung the clothes back up.

"Massie," Sarah greeted tersely as she turned the corner and approached the costume rack.

"Stare-ah," Massie growled in return.

Sarah wordlessly snatched her outfit off the rack and stomped off to get changed. Massie stifled her giggles and left to finish preparing for the show.

-xo-

"Hello students, parents, and faculty!" Massie said into the microphone as she stepped onto the stage, Claire by her side. "Welcome to the very first OMS Fashion Show!" Massie paused as the audience politely applauded, and then nodded at Claire to speak.

"All proceeds are going to benefit our school, and we greatly appreciate all of your support!" Claire squeaked, and Massie fought the desire to roll her eyes at the blonde's ahb-vious stage fright as more polite applause sounded throughout the room.

"This fashion show is unique in that not only are all the models students at OMS," Massie explained, "but the clothes have also been created entirely by OMS's very own Sewing Club!" Everyone clapped in recognition of the group of girls as they awkwardly stood up and waved to the crowd before quickly sitting back down again.

"Now without further ado," Massie said, smiling her signature half-smile, "I'd like to bring our first model onto the stage: Miss Allison Gray!"

Just like they had practiced, the eighth grader burst onto the stage, strutting to the beat of "Burnin' Up" as it blasted from the speakers.

"Allison is wearing a dress by Caitlin Moores," Claire read off the index card she held in her hands.

"Doesn't she look hawt?" Massie put in, arousing cheers from the boys in the room.

Allison blushed happily and gave the guys a flirtatious wink when she reached the end of the row of tables before turning and making her way back down the catwalk.

Next up were the twins in their matching blouse-and-skirt combinations. Massie ducked backstage, leaving Claire to her index cards.

"Why isn't Sarah in position?" Massie demanded. "She's up next!" In reality of course, Massie knew exactly why Sarah wasn't waiting in the wings, but she wasn't about to let anybody catch on to that.

Sari shrugged and pointed towards the changing rooms where Sarah had locked herself in.

"I can't go out there looking like this!" Sarah sobbed, stepping out of the room to the gasps of all the girls. Thanks to all the dog hairs Bean had deposited on the clothes, the dirty blonde had swollen up like a balloon. Her cheeks and forehead were so huge that Sarah's eyes had been reduced to tiny little slits, and her feet had enlarged to the point that they didn't even fit into her shoes. The seams of her clothes were bursting, and her skin was blotchy and red.

_Wow_, Massie thought. _When Claire said Sarah was allergic to dogs, she really meant it_.

"The show must go on," Massie smirked, holding back her laugh at the ridiculous sight.

"I can't go out there," Sarah repeated.

"Your loss," Massie shrugged, making as though to walk back onstage. When she reached the wings, however, she yanked hard on a rope someone in the Drama Club had rigged up for her in exchange for borrowing a designer top, and three rubber spiders dropped onto Sarah's head. The dirty blonde screamed and frantically ran away, fleeing blindly onto the stage. All the students burst into laughter at the sight of her, and Sarah froze when she realized what she had done in the midst of her fright. At this point her skirt finally reached its breaking point, and the seam ripped, flashing everyone with a view of Sarah's Power Puff underwear. The laughter doubled at this latest development, and Massie took the opportunity to giggle into her microphone.

"I guess someone needs to lay off the gummy worms!"

Sarah finally unfroze, and, tears streaming down her face, jumped off the stage and took off through the cafeteria in the direction of the nearest bathroom where she could lick her wounds. Massie just laughed and brought the next model out onto the stage, because, as she had said before, the show must go on.

* * *

Whew! Well, there you go. I think I'm going to wrap this story up in another chapter or so. Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated!


	20. Forgive and Forget

"Sarah?" Claire called timidly into the bathroom. The fashion show was long over, and while most students were making their way towards their first periods—she couldn't believe they still had an entire day of school ahead of them—Claire had ducked into the bathroom Sarah had fled into.

"What do you want?" Sarah snapped. Claire followed her voice to the stall she presumed Sarah to be hiding in and gingerly pushed the door open. It was unlocked.

"Is Massie not done humiliating me yet? Did she send you in to do her dirty work?" Sarah accused. Her face was blotchy and red, partly from the allergic reaction, and partly from the tears she now attempted to wipe from her face.

"N-no, that's not why I came," Claire began, but Sarah cut her off.

"Why, then? Why are you here? You, who basically decided weeks ago that your loyalties lay with freaking Massie and not me, your friend since elementary school?"

Claire fell silent at this, and looked guiltily down at her feet, which happened to be clad in a pair of metallic light blue sandals she had borrowed from Massie.

"I wish I didn't have to choose sides at all," Claire said finally, looking up and meeting Sarah's eyes.

"But you did. And you chose Massie," the dirty blonde sneered.

"I'm choosing to be here with you now, aren't I?"

There was silence as each girl stared at the other.

"What about later?" Sarah asked finally. "Who are you going to choose later when Massie starts wondering where you are?"

"Probably Massie," Claire admitted. As much as the words hurt, at least she was finally being honest.

"So. This is it then," Sarah stated.

"Yes," Claire agreed. "This is it."

-xo-

Massie's jaw dropped when Sarah strolled into the lunchroom later that day. She had changed back into her regular clothes and had taken her allergy shot, causing the swelling to go down. Her eyes were bright and free of tears, and she looked as if that morning had never happened. But from the snickers and pointing all their classmates were doing, it was clear that the image of Sarah blown up like a balloon with her underwear showing was still vivid in their minds.

"So. She actually decided to show her face," Massie sneered. Claire said nothing, choosing instead to silently pick at her food. Impusively, Massie pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. She strode over to Table #17 and waited for Sarah to acknowledge her, a smirk playing on her lips and her hands perched on her hips.

"What now, Massie?" Sarah spat. "Because if you're here to insult me, save it. I'm done. With all of this. You win."

"Giving up already, Sarah?" Massie asked, covering her open mouth with her hand in mock surprise.

"Yeah. I am," she replied flatly.

"Then so am I," Massie announced, pulling out a chair and sitting herself down at the table. Sarah, Sari, and Mandy gaped at her.

Massie pulled out her phone and sent a quick text message to Claire. Seconds later the blonde appeared at the table and sat down beside Massie.

"I'm ready to forgive and forget if you are," Massie said with a smile.

"Okay," Sarah agreed.

"Friends?"

"Friends."

* * *

Okay. That's the end. Hope you all enjoyed the ride. I know I did. :)

Keep an eye out for my collab with welcometomaddieland and maplexsyrup, Either Way I'll Break Your Heart Someday! :)


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